Yankees, Diamondbacks eliminated
ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The last two teams standing in Major League Baseball a year ago became the first two to be eliminated from the playoffs Saturday.
The Anaheim Angels finished off their assault of New York pitching to oust the Yankees short of the American League Championship Series for the first time in five years. And the St. Louis Cardinals avoided having to face Arizona's pitching stars again by bumping off the defending champion Diamondbacks.
Minnesota, meanwhile, flexed its offensive muscles to force a deciding fifth game against Oakland and Atlanta took a 2-1 advantage over San Francisco.
Shawn Wooten's leadoff homer in the fifth touched off the most explosive inning ever in a Division Series game Saturday, an eight-run onslaught that gave the Angels a 9-5 victory and ended the Yankees' season.
After losing the opening game of the AL Division Series, Anaheim stormed back to win three in a row and advance in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Angels scored 31 runs in the four games against New York.
David Wells allowed 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings, suffering the latest in a line of whippings administered by the Angels to the supposedly vaunted New York pitching staff.
In St. Louis, Miguel Cairo filled in for the injured Scott Rolen to go three for three with two runs scored and two RBI to key the Cardinals' 6-3 win over Arizona.
With Rolen likely sidelined until the World Series with a shoulder injury, Cairo got the start Saturday after delivering the key hit in Game 2. Despite hitting just .250 during the season, he justified manager Tony La Russa's faith.
Cairo had an RBI single in the second inning, was hit by a pitch and scored in the fourth, beat out an infield hit in the sixth and drove in an insurance run in the eighth with a double -- the Cardinals' lone extra-base hit.
In San Francisco, Greg Maddux allowed two runs in six innings and Keith Lockhart delivered a three-run homer to cap a five-run sixth as the Braves took the lead in the National League Division Series with a 10-2 blasting of the Giants.
The Braves grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the series and will try to finish off the Giants Sunday. Atlanta will send Game 1 loser Tom Glavine to the mound against Giants righthander Livan Hernandez, who is 5-0 lifetime in the postseason.
And in Minneapolis, the Twins capitalized on an Oakland defensive collapse to score seven unearned runs in the fourth inning en route to an 11-2 victory over Oakland.
Oakland committed two huge errors in the fourth along with two wild pitches and a hit batsman while the Twins scored seven runs on just four hits to break open what had been a 2-2 game.
Game 5 will be Sunday, with the A's sending Game 2 winner Mark Mulder against Brad Radke, who won Game 1.
Texas, Oklahoma barely survive
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The tune-ups for next weekend's Texas-Oklahoma showdown almost spoiled the showdown.
The second-ranked Texas Longhorns and third-rated Oklahoma Sooners will conduct their annual meeting next Saturday in Dallas to determine the team most likely to present a challenge to the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes.
But both the Longhorns and Sooners almost stumbled before they could get at each other on a day filled with close calls among the nation's elite.
Texas had to turn away a two-point conversion attempt with 4:04 remaining to preserve a 17-15 win over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma wound up pulling out a trick play for a touchdown in the final minutes to overcome the Missouri Tigers, 31-24.
In Austin, quarterback Chris Simms threw for one touchdown and passed for another to help the Longhorns hang on. The Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 Big 12 North) won their 16th straight home game and will take a perfect record into next week's meeting with the Sooners.
Oklahoma State (2-3, 0-1) was intent on spoiling next week's party and cut the lead to two points on a 33-yard pass from Josh Fields to John Lewis. But Field's two-point conversion pass to Rashaun Woods came up just short. Woods caught the ball at the two-yard line along the sideline, but was unable to break a tackle and wound up a yard shy.
Oklahoma State had one more chance, but that drive ended on an interception by the Longhorns' Rod Babers.
In Columbia, Mo., the Tigers owned a one-point lead only to suffer a turnover deep inside their own end of the field late in the contest.
Oklahoma was unable to pick up a first down in three plays and the Sooners lined up to attempt what appeared would be a 32-yard field goal with 6:38 to play. But holder Matt McCoy took the snap, started around right end and then threw a 15-yard pass to a well-covered Chris Chester in the end zone. Chester took the ball away from two defenders for the touchdown and Nate Hybl hit Curtis Fagan with a two-point conversion.
Missouri's loss spoiled a sensational night for quarterback Brad Smith, who threw for 170 yards and ran for 213 more.
Miami had no problems protecting its No. 1 ranking by clubbing Connecticut, 48-14. Willis McGahee rushed for three touchdowns in just over 15 minutes to help run the Hurricanes winning streak to 27 games.
There were some other close calls among the top 10 and one major upset.
No. 5 Ohio State had a fight on its hands before finally downing Northwestern, 27-16; and No. 6 Georgia barely survived against Alabama, 27-25; and No. 10 Tennessee went six overtimes before downing Arkansas, 41-38.
Notre Dame kept its perfect season alive with two defensive touchdowns and a 17-14 win over Stanford.
The shocker came in Oxford, Miss., where Eli Manning and the Mississippi Rebels defeated No. 8 Florida, 17-14.
Jobe leads PGA Tour stop
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Brandt Jobe birdied the last four holes Saturday en route to a 6-under-par 65 and a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Michelob Championship.
Seeking his first career win, Jobe had seven birdies and a bogey at Kingsmill Golf Club's River Course to reach 13-under 200, a shot better than second-round co-leader Billy Mayfair.
Charles Howell III, Scott Hoch, Corey Pavin and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy share third place at 10-under 203.
David Duval took a share of the lead into the third round but posted a 74 that left him in a tie for 15th at 207.
Patriots-Dolphins highlight NFL Sunday
MIAMI, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (3-1) must figure out a way to stop Ricky Williams when they meet the Miami Dolphins (3-1) in an AFC East clash Sunday and Mike Martz hopes to finally get a win when the St. Louis Rams (0-4) visit the San Francisco 49ers (2-1) in an NFC West battle.
Both the Patriots and Dolphins started the season 3-0, but lost road games last week. The Patriots fell to the San Diego Chargers, 21-14 and the Dolphins were ambushed by the Kansas City Chiefs, 48-30.
After yielding 180 yards on the ground to Priest Holmes in an overtime win over Kansas City, the Patriots were steamrolled by LaDainian Tomlinson for 217 yards on 27 carries, including scoring runs of 37 and 58 yards, in the loss to San Diego.
The 49ers will not shed any tears for the Rams, who have to dig out of an 0-4 hole without Pro Bowl quarterback Kurt Warner.
Warner has completed 115 of 174 passes for 1,533 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions in five career starts against the Niners -- all wins. The Rams have won six straight over San Francisco by a combined score of 197-115 after the Niners captured 17 consecutive games in the series.
Warner suffered a broken right pinky in St. Louis' 13-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last week and is expected to be sidelined eight to 10 weeks.
Marty Schottenheimer has the right formula for the San Diego Chargers, who are 4-0 for the first time since their Super Bowl season of 1994 and will visit the Denver Broncos (3-1) in an AFC West contest.
After beating lower echelon teams Cincinnati, Houston and Arizona in the first three weeks, the Chargers made a statement last Sunday with a victory over the Patriots.
Tomlinson leads the NFL with 506 yards rushing to go along with five touchdowns. He should be tested against the Broncos, who are allowing just 56.5 yards per game on the ground. Denver is second in the AFC to San Diego in total defense at 277.3 yards per game.
Safin, Kafelnikov fall in home tourney
MOSCOW, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Second seed and five-time defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and top-seeded Marat Safin were upset in front of a home crowd Saturday in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup.
Seventh-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken recorded the first upset, posting a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kafelnikov, who had won six straight sets since dropping the first one in his opening-round match with Belarussian wild card Vladimir Voltchkov.
The 28-year-old Kafelnikov was trying to become the first man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win a tournament six straight years. It was his first loss in this event since falling to Goran Ivanisevic in the 1996 final.
Schalken, who lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open to eventual champion Pete Sampras, faces French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final of this indoor event.
The 20-year-old Mathieu, in the semifinals for the first time, overcame 37 unforced errors in a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Safin.
